Rail for magnetic levitation vehicle

ABSTRACT

In magnetic levitation vehicles, supporting and driving forces are generated by a long stator on the track and permanent magnets on the vehicle. The underside of a rail provides the attachment of the long stator; the rail further has two oppositely disposed horizontal running surfaces for pairs of spacer rollers on the vehicle and a vertical running surface for lateral guide rollers on the vehicle. For a particularly simple and inexpensive production of the rail it is proposed to make the one end section of the railhead of the rail the horizontal running surfaces and a lateral guide profile fastened to the underside of the railhead the vertical running surface.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/689,267,filed May 22, 1991, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to a rail employed for a rail system andin particular to a rail for a maglev commuter train system.

2. Description of the Related Art

Maglev commuter train systems employ primarily elevated tracks which arecomposed of individual prefabricated track elements. These trackelements are configured as single field carriers or as multiple fieldcarriers. The vehicles of this commuter train system travel over thistrack without the danger of derailment and are based on the followingoperational principle. Namely, the vehicle weight is dissipatedsubstantially as a load distributed over the surface area through therails to the supporting structure of the track by way of permanentmagnets fastened to height adjustable magnet carrier strips on bothlongitudinal sides of a rectangular vehicle undercarriage frame. Inorder to stabilize the unstable state between magnets and rails and toavoid a complete interruption of the magnetic attraction forces whilemaintaining a minimum air gap, a residual load of the vehicle weight istransferred by way of guide and spacer rollers running on the rails. Thedistance, that is, the air gap between the surfaces of the permanentmagnets of the vehicle undercarriage and the rails and the surfaces ofthe long stator fastened to the rail, is regulated as a function of therespective vehicle weight (static and dynamic loads). The vehicle isdriven by the cooperation of the permanent magnets of the vehicleundercarriage with the traveling electrical field of the long stator onthe track (linear motor drive).

As can be seen from the cross-sectional view of the track of a prior artcommuter traffic system shown in FIG. 1, the track elements are composedof two mutually parallel track carriers 11 which are connected with oneanother by way of transverse connectors 12. The transverse connectors 12are structurally arranged at such a depth that an upwardly open troughappears as the cross section of the track. On both sides of the trackcarriers, rails 13 are fastened in the longitudinal direction. Rails 13form a functional component of the track and serve to support, guide anddrive the magnetic levitation vehicles. As is further evident from FIG.1, the track is configured as a completely welded structure in which arailhead 131 is welded at a right angle to the ends of each trackcarrier 11, with a specially developed and fastened supporting and guideangle rail 132 being welded to the end faces of the railhead. Forreasons of its supporting and driving function, riding comfort and wearof the guide and spacer rollers, high tolerance demands must be placedon the supporting structure which is connected with high and expensivemanufacturing efforts. For example, the railheads 131, particularly ifthe track curves, must be burnt with great accuracy out of steel plates.Additionally, the angle rails 132 are relatively thin and thus bendablysoft so that their ends give way under the vehicle load which results inuncomfortable jolts and a reduced service life of the guide and spacerrollers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this, it is the object of the invention to create a rail ofthe above-mentioned type which, in spite of high tolerance requirementsfor the supporting structure, can be manufactured more easily and lessexpensively and which, although of a comparable weight, additionallyexhibits fewer elastic deformations from the vehicle load, particularlyin the region of the rail joints.

This is accomplished according to the invention by the provision of arail for a magnetic levitation vehicle, comprising a railhead with aninner end section, a free end section, and an underside; a long statorfastened to the underside of the railhead for generating, in cooperationwith permanent magnets in the vehicle, supporting and driving forces forthe vehicle; and a lateral guide profile fastened to the underside ofthe railhead, wherein the free end section of the railhead presentsoppositely disposed, horizontal running surfaces for pairs of spacerrollers on the vehicle and the lateral guide profile presents a verticalrunning surface for lateral guide rollers on the vehicle.

Advantageous features and modifications of the rail according to theinvention will become evident from the discussion below.

The invention is based on the consideration that, with respect toeconomical industrial prefabrication of the complete rails includingtheir railhead, lateral guide profile and long stator components, atrack structure is provided which permits a change in manufacturingtechnology from the customary, relatively rough supporting structure toa precise structural unit. The invention does without complicatedspecial angle rails which pose engineering problems and instead uses therailhead of the rail which is employed in any case and which issupplemented by a lateral guide profile fastened to the underside of therailhead to serve as the vertical travel rail. The long stator isfastened to the underside of the railhead preferably not by theconventional welded connection but with the aid of a screw connection.The screwable long stator offers considerable advantages for theoperation of a commuter traffic system particularly for reasons of beingmore easily repaired and maintained. If the rail which according to theinvention is configured as a functional unit, is damaged, it is notnecessary to exchange the entire track element. If necessary, theencasing of the long stator, which is necessary in the conventionalwelded method of fastening the long stator in order to avoid crevicecorrosion, may also be omitted. The sufficient thickness of the railheademployed as the rail permits the configuration of a simple, form-lockingconnection at the joints with the aid of slide pins that are introducedinto the respective upper face of the adjoining railheads. In this way,a level and thus jolt-free transition can be ensured at the ends of therails. The rails which are preferably fastened in the track carrier asdeeply as possible result in greater rigidity of the track structurewhich, in turn, leads to a reduction of traveling and drive noises sinceit reduces vibrations. In addition, the structural configuration withthe deep-set track profile brings considerable advantages for therealization of a simple, cost-effective switch which, for compatibilitywith existing commuter traffic systems may possibly be equipped with apassively driven center switch member (frog) which supports the vehicleby way of magnetic forces. This center switch member, composed of twostructurally interconnected rails, is mounted around a pivot point ormore precisely, a displacement point. The switch frog is set for thedesired direction of travel by means of a conventional switch drive. Thereduction in track height due to the low lying track profile leads toconsiderable savings of material particularly in track sections that areembedded in ballast in tunnels or on bridges.

With the aid of the rail according to the invention, functional,manufacturing and operational advantages can be realized over theobviously prior art maglev commuter train system, leading to asignificant reduction in costs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference toembodiments thereof that are illustrated in the drawing figures. It isshown in:

FIG. 1, a cross-sectional view of a track profile of a prior art maglevcommuter train rail;

FIG. 2, a cross-sectional view of the low lying track profile of amaglev commuter train system;

FIG. 2a, a top view of two adjacent rails.

FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view of one of the two rails of the trackprofile according to the invention as shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4, a cross-sectional view of the fastening means of the railaccording to FIG. 3 at the supporting structure of the track.

FIG. 5, a cross-sectional view of the low lying track profile of amaglev commuter train system including vehicle 50.

FIG. 6, a cross-sectional view of the rail with current rails 73 andline conductors 74.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As can be seen in FIG. 2, a track profile 20 includes two mutuallyparallel track carriers 21 in the form of a double-T profile whoselower, inwardly oriented base is reconfigured into a box profile 24.Each box profile serves as a support for a rail 23 according to theinvention which is connected to the respective track carrier 21 or, moreprecisely, with its box-shaped profile 24.

As can be seen in detail in FIG. 3, each rail 23 is composed of arailhead 31 having a free end on which an upper running surface 311 anda lower running surface 312 are formed projecting inwardly toward thetrack profile for the nonillustrated guide and spacer rollers of theundercarriage of the above-described magnetic levitation vehicle. Alateral guide profile 32 is fastened to the underside of railhead31--offset relative to its free end--preferably at a right angle. Thesurface of this lateral guide profile forms the running surface 321 forthe track guidance of the undercarriage and its vertical rollers withinthe maglev train track. Railhead 31 is composed of a rectangular steelprofile having a thickness of at least 30 mm, a width of about 500 to600 mm and a length which is adapted to the respective length of theindividual supporting structure elements. Railhead 31 may be straight inits longitudinal extent or appropriately bent for horizontal curves. Intransitional sections of the track where the track goes uphill ordownhill, the railhead is also bent concavely or convexly about itstransverse axis.

The railhead 31 is connected to longitudinal or track carriers 21 of thesupporting structure and is effected by a weld connection or, as shownin FIG. 4, by a special screw connection. The height position of rail 23is selected so that a minimum distance is maintained from transverseconnectors 22 (FIG. 2) between longitudinal carriers 21.

The running surfaces 311 and 312 formed by railhead 31 at its free endsand the running surface 321 formed by the interior surface of lateralguide profile 32 may be worked further after installation in order toreduce waviness. The ends of adjoining railheads 31 may be provided withform-locking connecting elements 300 (see FIG. 2a), particularly slidingpins, which are displaceably mounted in associated longitudinal bores320 in the end faces 330 of the adjacent railheads 31. The lateral guideprofile 32 for guiding the track of the magnetic levitation vehicles bymeans of the horizontal rollers on its undercarriage also has arectangular cross section, as shown in FIG. 3, and is preferably weldedat a right angle to the underside of railhead 31.

Between the longitudinal track carriers 21 and the lateral guide profile32 of the associated rail 23, a long stator 33 is fastened to theunderside of the railhead 31, in particular, screwed on with the aid ofangle rails 25 as shown in FIG. 3. Long stator 33 is composed of sheetmetal packets which are bundled in the longitudinal direction and whoseindividual metal sheets are insulated while the entire sheet metalpacket is coated with an elastic insulating material. The downwardlyoriented face of each long stator 33 must be oriented very precisely inparallel with the upper running surface 311 of the railhead 31 so that auniform air gap is ensured between the long stator and thenon-illustrated permanent magnets of the undercarriage of the magneticlevitation vehicle which must be guided in parallel therewith.

As already mentioned, track carriers 21 are either, steel carriers orconcrete carriers with steel reinforcements and steel coverings. Ifconcrete carriers are employed, the fastening structure shown in FIG. 4between rail 23 and concrete track carrier 21 is preferably suitable. Inthis case, a metal anchor plate 41 is fixed to, for example, cast into ahorizontal platform (which may be a component of the box profile 24shown in FIG. 2) of concrete track carrier 21. The free upper face ofanchor plate 41 is provided with a spherical cap-shaped rounded portionand has a length, for example, of about 150 to 200 mm. The flange-shapedregions at both sides of the spherical cap-shaped rounded portion arewelded to fastening pins 45 which project vertically upward. Anadjustment rocker 43 is placed onto anchor plate 41 and is provided witha spherical cap-shaped recess which corresponds to the sphericalcap-shaped rounded portion of the anchor plate. Rocker 43 is providedwith corresponding passage bores for the passage of pins 45. Due to itsspherical cap-shaped support on anchor plate 41, adjustment rocker 43 isable to tip down on both sides relative to the anchor plate 41 and trackcarrier 21, thus compensating for deviations from the horizontal on thepart of track carrier 21. By using different thicknesses, rocker 43further permits a height adaptation in the case of dimensionalinaccuracies. The end section 46 of railhead 31 of rail 23 is placedonto adjustment rocker 43, with end section 46 passing throughappropriate passage bores in pins 45. By means of an adjusting gauge,rail 23 is aligned with the oppositely disposed rail of the trackprofile, with this alignment possibly being effected in the longitudinaland transverse directions as well as in height and slope. Uponcompletion of the alignment of rail 23, rail 23 is fixed by means offastening nuts 44 which are screwed onto the ends of fastening pins 45.The adjustment elements composed of components 41, 43, 44 and 45 arefastened to the supporting structure at longitudinal intervals and formsupport points for the rail 23 fastened thereto; in order to reducenoise, a damping layer may be provided between each anchor plate 41 andthe associated adjustment rocker 43.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the low lying track profile of amaglev commuter train system including vehicle 50. In particular, FIG. 5shows vehicle 50 with magnets 51 and rollers 52, 53, and 54. As can beseen, railhead 31 has running surfaces 311 and 312 at its free ends andrunning surface 321 formed by the interior surface of lateral guideprofile 32.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the rail with current rails 73 andline conductors 74.

The length of the track carriers 21 shown in FIG. 2 is selected so thatthe upper, free ends of track carriers 21 project over the railsattached thereto at approximately the illustrated ratio so that currentrails 73 and/or line conductors 74 can be fastened to the verticalflanks of one of the two parallel track carriers 21 in the region abovethe respective rail 23 as shown in FIG. 6. The illustrated height oftrack carriers 21 corresponds to the given height for an elevatedconstruction. In the case where the track carriers 21 are embedded inballast 60 in tunnels or on bridge structures, the height of trackcarriers 21 can be reduced, relative to the height shown in FIG. 2, downto the fastening location of rails 23 without this worsening thestrength of the track profile.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rail for a magnetic levitation vehicle,comprising:a railhead with an inner end section, a free end section, andan underside; a long stator fastened to the underside of said railheadfor generating, in cooperation with permanent magnets in the vehicle,supporting and driving forces for the vehicle; and two oppositelydisposed horizontal running surfaces for pairs of spacer rollers on thevehicle; and a lateral guide profile fastened to the underside of saidrailhead, wherein said railhead consists of a rectangular steel plateand the free end section of said railhead presents oppositely disposed,horizontal running surfaces for pairs of spacer rollers on the vehicleand said lateral guide profile presents a vertical running surface forlateral guide rollers on the vehicle.
 2. A rail according to claim 1,further comprising a track carrier, the inner end section of saidrailhead being fastened to said track carrier.
 3. A rail according toclaim 2, further comprising an adjustable screw connection between theinner end section of said railhead and said track carrier.
 4. A railaccording to claim 2, wherein said railhead and said long stator form apreassembled combination before said rail is fastened to said trackcarrier.
 5. A rail according to claim 1, wherein said long stator isscrewed to the underside of said railhead.
 6. A rail according to claim1, wherein said lateral guide profile is welded to the underside of saidrailhead.
 7. A rail according to claim 1, forming a combination with anadjoining rail, said combination further comprising form-lockingconnection elements for connecting said rail with said adjoining rail.8. A combination according to claim 7, wherein said form-lockingconnection elements comprise slide pins mounted so as to be displaceablein associated longitudinal bores in end faces of said rails.
 9. A railaccording to claim 1, wherein said horizontal running surfaces and saidvertical running surface are smoothed when assembled in order to reducewaviness.
 10. A rail according to claim 2, further comprising:means forfastening the inner end section of said railhead to said track carrier,including a plurality of adjusting elements, disposed between said trackcarrier and said railhead.
 11. A rail according to claim 10, whereinsaid plurality of adjusting elements comprises:an anchor plate fastenedto said track carrier and having a spherical cap-shaped raised portion;an adjustment rocker disposed between said anchor plate and saidrailhead, said adjustment rocker including a spherical cap-shaped recessand having a thickness dimensioned to correspond to a required heightcompensation; vertical threaded bolts fastened to said anchor plate soas to penetrate long hole bores in said rocker and said railhead; andsecuring nuts cooperating with said vertical threaded bolts for fixing aposition of said railhead.
 12. A rail according to claim 11, furthercomprising a damping layer, disposed between said anchor plate and saidrocker.
 13. A rail according to claim 2, wherein said track carriercomprises steel.
 14. A combination including a plurality of rails eachaccording to claim 1, and further comprising:two track carriersextending parallel to one another, each of said two track carriershaving a given height and a vertical flank for carrying a respective oneof the railheads fastened as closely as possible to the lower end of thevertical flanks of the track carrier; and a transverse connector fortransversely connecting said two track carriers, each of said railheadsbeing fastened as closely as possible to a lower end of the verticalflanks and at a given minimum distance from said transverse connector.15. A combination according to claim 14, further comprising at least oneof a current rail and a line conductor fastened to the vertical flank ofone of said two track carriers.